Stocks extended gains to set fresh record highs on Tuesday as investors took in another hefty set of earnings and economic data.
All three major U.S. equity indexes moved higher. The S&P 500 and Dow each set all-time intraday highs, with equity investors proving resilient even in the face of ongoing supply chain challenges and elevated inflationary pressures.
The Nasdaq Composite also rose, coming within 1% of its own record high. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) rallied to add to gains and extend the stock's market capitalization further above $1 trillion. Technology stocks also gained broadly as investors awaited earnings results from the likes of Alphabet (GOOGL), Twitter (TWTR) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on Tuesday, and other tech heavyweights including Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) later this week.
Facebook (FB) shares gained in early trading even after the company posted mixed third-quarter results
Stocks have jumped so far in October as investors at least temporarily shook off concerns over rising input and labor costs, and widespread shortages, for companies across a broad range of industries. Even given these pressures, many companies have managed to exceed Wall Street's earnings expectations in their latest quarterly results, which largely reflected companies' abilities to absorb or pass on heightened costs at least for the time being.
With earnings rolling in this month, the S&P 500 has so far gained 6% in October, and is heading for its best month since November 2020.
"The S&P 500 Index has gained more than 20% so far this year, making more than 50 record highs along the way. Certainly nobody should be upset with that return if that was all 2021 brought us," Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist for LPL Financial, wrote in an email. "However, we see signs that there could be more gains to come in the final two months of the year."
"Seasonal tailwinds, improving market internals, and clear signs of a peak in the Delta variant all provide potential fuel for equities heading into year-end, and we maintain our overweight equities recommendation as a result," he added.